Current and Future Perspectives on Recovery Growth from the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

Osadetz, K.G.¹, Zhuoheng Chen¹ (1) Geological Survey of Canada, Calgary, AB

The Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB, senso lato including contiguous mainland Northwest Territories successions) hosts large proven and potential conventional and non-conventional oil resources. The ultimately recoverable reserve continues to grow. The basin is inferred an original in place conventional oil resource of ~26.6 x 10⁹m3 (168 x 10⁹ bbls; Lee 1998; National Energy Board (NEB), 2001) of which ~16.4 x 10⁹m³ (103 x 10⁹ bbls) has been discovered (CAPP, 2005). These resources have been variably altered, most significantly by biodegradation, and heavy oil is 7.9 x 10⁹m³ (50 x 10⁹ bbls) of the original oil in place.